ST. JOSEPH’S CARMELITE CHURCH BERKELEY ROAD

St. Joseph's Carmelite Church Berkeley Road, Dublin, Ireland is the Roman Catholic church of the Berkeley Road Parish. The church is dedicated to Saint Joseph and is in full use today in the care of the Discalced Carmelites.

Originally a wooden chapel of ease was built here in 1870 until its replacement with the building of the current granite church.
The granite building was designed by the architects O'Neill and Byrne with construction beginning in 1875 and was completed and consecrated in 1880.

The Berkeley Road Parish was established in 1890 from St. Michan's. The parish is called Berkeley Road even though the church is located on Berkeley Street.

To celebrate the establishment of the parish, the North-Western bell tower was constructed between 1892-3 to the designs of John L. Robinson.

The church was put into the care of the Discalced Carmelites in July 1983.

The Discalced Carmelites or Barefoot Carmelites is a Catholic mendicant order with roots in the eremitic tradition of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. (Discalced is derived from Latin, meaning "without shoes".) The order was established in 1593, pursuant to the reform of the Carmelite Order of the Ancient Observance by two Spanish saints, Saint Teresa of Ávila and Saint John of the Cross.

The Discalced Carmelite order is now known by the initials "O.C.D". The older branch of the order, Carmelites of the Ancient Observance, has the initials "O. Carm." The secular branch of the order (the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites formerly known as the Third Order), has the initials "O.C.D.S."